- The bridge now is a Charvel one (on the other prototypes it was a Floyd);

- The bodies on the production guitars will be made of roasted basswood.

I really like the ideas behind this guitar, but I will not buy it because of the bridge.

Fender owns Floyd Rose. It seems they decided to re-tool the bridge from the ground up and make what they feel were all-around improvements instead of grafting a new arm assembly to a design that is over 35 years old. If you look at the Music Zoo photos closely, the saddle edges are rounder now and the bridge plate has also been slightly modified. Essentially, it's a whole new bridge. I think it makes much more sense to do this than try to re-manufacture the old bridge that no one was making. It seems that Fender/Charvel is manufacturing these bridges right in-house at the Corona factory. It's an awful lot of work to tool up for the manufacturing of a new bridge and this explains the delays._________________Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.

I can't wait either. ETA on mine is mid-January according to the shop (and their Fender contact) here in Norway.

I think it's great they built a completely new bridge from the ground up and especially like the smoothened saddle edges. I never liked the sharp edges of the saddles on the old Floyds. A little curious what material the block is but I guess we'll find out soon enough._________________Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.

According to what I found online the block should be brass. The smooth saddles will be nice to the right hand...I always hated the sharp ones on original floyds.

Ed, do you think Charvel would build me a GG signature with a Gotoh bridge with vintage saddles, if I ask them nicely?
I could also be interested in buying one of the old prototypes...

Brass is fine when the strings don't feed through the block. Steel wouldn't add much to this type of bridge except for weight.

Well, I guess you can order a custom Charvel with exactly the same specs except with the Gotoh bridge and get on the 2-year waiting list!

Guthrie mentioned to me that locking the strings at the bridge does make a big difference in tuning stability. That's why he went with this bridge. Tonally, he felt the difference was minimal between the two._________________Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.

I can't wait either. ETA on mine is mid-January according to the shop (and their Fender contact) here in Norway.

So are you getting the Birdseye or the Flame? I'm getting the Birdseye. I think it gives the guitar a unique look. Flame looks pretty cool too.

Subtle figuring works fine for me these days. Just not into the crazy Quilted or Flame figuring anymore... I guess one goes through wanting the most outrageous figured woods for a while and grow out of it._________________Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.

I'm getting the birdseye too. I've been going back and forth with myself really liking the birdseye the one moment and wondering if I made the wrong choice the next. But in the end I think I agree with you, it's a more unique characteristic look and I think it has a kind of understated beauty to it where the flame is maybe more immediately flashy.

What a good looking guitar!! I love the transition from the headstock to the neck as well.